Starting all over again...

"We shall therefore recommend to the WICB Board of Directors that a firm cutoff point be established as Friday April 21, 2006 for the retainer contracts to be settled. Thereafter, the team shall be selected based on those players who make themselves available." Didn't we pass this way a year ago?

The ultimatum at the start of this column was issued late Wednesday by the WICB in relation to what they perceive to be a suspicious delay by the Players' Association in reaching agreement on the long talked about matter of retainer contracts. Doesn't the wording sound very similar to that of then WICB president Teddy Griffith almost exactly a year ago when he issued an ultimatum in the midst of the sponsorship dispute between Digicel and Cable and Wireless? Then, the players were required to sign match/tour contracts ahead of the home season or not be considered for selection.

Six players chose not to sign while a seventh, Brian Lara, remained non-committal and also missed the first Test against South Africa in Guyana. An uneasy truce was reached before the next Test at the Queen's Park Oval, only for the dispute to blow up again ahead of the tour of Sri Lanka, resulting in a severely-depleted team making the trip. The fact that full-strength squads have since toured Australia and New Zealand lured many into believing that the worst-at least off the field-was over.

But now comes this statement, not made by Ken Gordon, the new president, or another Board official who will be easy meat for fans and media who see the WICB as a collection of self-serving individuals. No sir, this one is the collective statement of Messrs Lloyd, Holding, Roberts, Haynes, Murray and Bishop, six former players identified immediately with the greatest period in the history of West Indies cricket.

Not so easy to cuss them as jealous administrators with no feeling for the players, is it? While you fumble for a response, contemplate this additional excerpt from the statement:

"We have been at a loss to understand the reasons for this matter being dragged out as long as it has, until today (Wednesday). Information has now reached us that discussions are taking place between certain players and interests in direct competition with our major sponsor. We continue to hope that this information is incorrect. Nonetheless, time has run out on us and we can no longer permit this situation to be dragged out interminably."

Again, keep in mind that the "we" and "our" referred to here are not the WICB per se, but the illustrious members of the Cricket Committee. It may be coincidental that WIPA and a significant number of its prominent members are presently involved in what is intended as a character-building retreat here. I suspect it won't be long, though, before they go into counter-attack mode at a time when everyone should be channeling their energies toward the limited-over series starting in eight days' time against Zimbabwe. When will it end?

Even with a recent history of prolonged disputes, it certainly will be over long before Caribbean governments and the people of the region fully appreciate the ramifications-positive and negative-of hosting next year's World Cup. But with less than 11 months to go now before the opening match between the hosts and Pakistan at Sabina Park, realities are hitting home hard in Kingston, where Omar Davies, Jamaica's Finance Minister, gave a gloomy assessment of the state of play from a dollars and cents point of view.

His calculation of a USD 95 million loss to the island for their part in the cricketing extravaganza may appear unduly pessimistic, given that the benefits expected to accrue to Jamaica and the rest of the region in terms of global exposure and publicity will only be fully appreciated several years after the event.

However, his contention on Tuesday that Jamaica was not the only country coming to terms with the full implications of hosting the World Cup is worrying in that it seems to betray a classic biting-off-more-than-you-can-chew mentality. It is palpably too late to turn back now. But the danger is that, as costs escalate and deadlines are missed, the whole monumental thing will degenerate into a heated blame-game, while those territories that are ahead of the preparation queue salivate at the prospect of benefiting from the misfortunes of their Caribbean "brothers".

Davies' belief that Jamaica could actually get more matches because, he claims, the Guyanese are having problems meeting their obligations, is hardly the sort of utterance to foster greater regional unity for a common cause. Unless, of course, he was looking at the prospect of additional fixtures as more of a burden than a blessing.

In so many key areas, time is running out. For settling retainer contracts, for naming a captain, for naming a squad for hosting a World Cup. Short or long term, there are so many challenges facing West Indies cricket that blissful optimism seems to be the sole preserve of those with their heads either in the clouds or buried in the sand. At least we can enjoy the pleasant reality of our national team ruling the roost. But what about everybody else?